Independent 10,594 / Phi

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Friday is Phi-day, and here he is with his latest puzzle.

This was a medium-difficulty puzzle on an unusual grid, one that incorporates a larger number of longer entries.

I haven’t spotted any particular theme today, but other solvers may have and will doubtless enlighten us later on.

My favourite clues today were 3, for its definition, which took me by surprise; and the semi- & lit. at 20, for entertainment value. I had to check 21 in Chambers and felt that I ought to have known this expression, but I didn’t. I am not convinced of my parsing at 8, where “the” seems to stand for “that” – any thoughts?

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across    
     
01 APOLLO Lines etched in a mostly indifferent representation of the sun

LL (=lines) in [A + POO<r> (=indifferent, of e.g. quality; “mostly” means last letter is dropped)]
     
05 OAFISH Stupid article, monopolised by old angle

A (=article, in grammar) in [O (=old) + FISH (=angle, as verb)]
     
08 RUN THE GAUNTLET Operate that desolate rental and face criticism

RUN (=operate) + THE (=that) + GAUNT (=desolate) + LET (=rental)
     
10 ADMIRE Million trapped by a frightful rate

M (=million) in [A + DIRE (=frightful)]; to rate is to admire, think highly of
     
11 OKLAHOMA Satisfactory American place to live nearly completed in US city and state

OK (=satisfactory) + {[A (=American) + HOM<e> (=place to live; “nearly completed” means last letter is dropped)] in LA (=US city, i.e. Los Angeles)}
     
12 STRENGTH Singular fact: England’s making up for United’s power

S (=singular, in grammar) + [ENG (=England) to replace U (=United) in TRUTH (=fact)]
     
13 HERESY Behold the end of messy religious disagreement

HERE’S (=behold!) + <mess>Y (“end of” means last letter only)
     
14 PRIMED Possibly bowdlerised edition ready

PRIM (=bowdlerised, prudish) + ED. (=edition); a primed pump is ready for use
     
16 ROAD RAGE Eggs around a trail? Serious annoyance from drivers

[A + DRAG (=trail, haul)] in ROE (=eggs, from fish)
     
18 WINDFALL Bend, with autumn producing fruit on the ground

WIND (=bend, turn) + FALL (=autumn)
     
20 TOMCAT Perfectly catching mice regularly? That’ll be me!

M<i>C<e> (“regularly” means alternate letters only) in TO A T (=perfectly)
     
21 GRACE-AND-FAVOUR Disposition of a vanguard force at the Queen’s disposal

*(A VANGUARD FORCE); “disposition of” is anagram indicator; as an adjective, grace-and-favour describes e.g. a residence belonging to the British sovereign and granted rent-free to a person of importance
     
22 GEDDIT Director involved in good change to film – do you see?

D (=director) in [G (=good) + EDIT (=change to film)]; “geddit” is slang for “(do you) get it?”
     
23 LEDGER Both sides accepting border accounts?

EDGE (=border) in [L (=left) + R (=right, i.e. both sides)]
     
Down    
     
02 POUND STERLING Currency left after rest damaged in battering

[*(REST) + L (=left)] in POUNDING (=battering)
     
03 LATRINE Road encompassing most of journey, showing you where to go

TRI<p> (=journey; “most of” means last letter is dropped) in LANE (=road); the “go” of the definition refers to using the toilet
     
04 ONE-LEGGED Cricket sides, including English; going extra day, initially – not much good getting the runs?

{E (=English) in [ON + LEG (=cricket sides)]} + G<oing> E<xtra> D<ay> (“initially” means first letters only); a one-legged cricketer would struggle to run between the wickets!
     
05 ON ANOTHER PLANET Unrealistic, and beyond 1’s capabilities?

Cryptically, if Apollo (=entry at 1) is the representation of the sun, then being “on another planet” would be beyond his capabilities
     
06 FINAL Concluding event strong, considering everything is a little lacking

F (=strong, i.e. forte) + IN AL<l> (=considering everything; “is a little lacking” means last letter is dropped)
     
07 SULPHUR Picked up ruthenium; hydrogen, and also __________ ?

RU (=ruthenium) + H (=hydrogen) + PLUS (=and also); “picked up” indicates vertical reversal
     
09 TIME SIGNATURE Newspaper being able to capture one good indication of the pulse?

[I (=one) + G (=good)] in [TIMES (=newspaper) + + NATURE (=being)]; a time signature is an indication of rhythm in musical notation, hence “indication of the pulse”
     
13 HEALTHFUL A lot of fun in the hall, dancing – it’s good for you

FU<n> (“a lot of” means last letter dropped) in *(THE HALL); “dancing” is anagram indicator
     
15 MEDIATE Reflect – not the first time – and intervene

MEDI<t>ATE (=reflect (upon)); “not the first time (=T)” means the first letter “t” is dropped
     
17 REMOVED Daughter, always upset about way of working, transferred

MO (=way of working, i.e. modus operandi) in REVED (D=daughter + EVER (=always); “upset” indicates vertical reversal)
     
19 AHEAD Leading Australian picked up dismissing Republican

A (=Australian) + HEA<r>D (=picked up (a sound); “dismissing Republican (=R)” means letter “r” is missing)
     

 

 

9 comments on “Independent 10,594 / Phi”

  1. Your intro pretty much summarised my feelings including favourites and a question mark against the = that in 8a.

    Not sure I’ve seen that meaning of WINDFALL and HEALTHFUL seems a strange word.

    In 5d, I took it to be a reference to the Apollo moonshots which were never meant to go to another planet.

    Thanks to Phi and RatkojaRiku.

  3. Interesting alternative theories for 5D; seems to me both are correct, so perhaps Phi could enlighten us which was in his mind.  The right half went in quite smoothly, the left half less so.  I thought the clue for 4D could have been better, since ‘on’ and ‘leg’ are one and the same, though I haven’t been able to come up with an alternative suggestion.  Thanks Phi and RatkojaRiku.

  5. I hadn’t come across this meaning of WINDFALL either but it’s presumably the origin of the more familiar (to me) sense of an unexpected financial gain. I wasn’t sure about ON ANOTHER PLANET, but parsed it as did Hovis @1.

    Favourites were the idea of the ONE-LEGGED batsman and SULPHUR.

    Thanks to Phi and RR

  7. Another moonshot here (although I did think of Schoenberg’s 2nd string quartet – I breathe the air of another planet.)

     

    Bill@6: As it said in the intro, this is a semi-&lit clue, which means  the wordplay is also the definition, the “me” referring back to the word play.  A tomcat is  good at “Perfectly catching mice regularly”.

  8. An enjoyable solve, though challenging in places.  We too took the Apollo reference in 5dn to be to the Apollo moon missions.  Incidentally we were misled at first in 1ac trying to make something based on ‘sol…’ taking ‘mostly indifferent’ to be so-s[o] and it was only when we started on the downs that we realised it had to be APOLLO.  And we were surprised that the original meaning of WINDFALL wasn’t universally known.

    SULPHUR was our favourite, once we realised we needed a synonym of ‘also’.

    Thanks, Phi and RatkojaRiku.

  9. The Apollo reference was certainly meant to be that the programme was intended only for the moon and so would never land on another planet. I thought of Schoenberg too but decided he was a little too recherché.

    We have a tree bursting with a few score lemons and, despite the early arrival of the spring storms with their attendant gales, we have only had a couple of windfalls. Very stubborn stems, lemons.

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